Border town celebrates goodwill

Columbus recognizes raid day with show of goodwill between two nations

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5. “Pancho Villa” greets guests as a symbol of friendship during the 17th annual Cabalgata festival Saturday in Columbus. The event brings in horseback riders from Mexico to celebrate in the small border town.(Photo: Jesse Moya - Headlight Photo)Buy Photo

COLUMBUS - During a time of political and ideological divide in the nation, border cities like Columbus and Palomas Mexico remain united in an annual display of friendship.

The 17th annual Cabalgata Brigade rode into Columbus at around 11 a.m. Saturday, as citizens in the small border town lined the streets in anticipation of the massive cavalry’s entrance. Riders from several states in Mexico joined Americans at the Columbus Port of Entry, where they are allowed access to the United States for the ongoing celebration of unity between the two border cultures. Columbus, for many of the riders, is the final stop in a 15-day-long horse ride from the interior of Mexico.

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1. Folklorico dancers of all ages entertained the crowd Saturday at the 17th annual Cabalgata brigade festival in Columbus. The festival brings in riders from across Mexico and celebrates the history of the raid on the border town in 1916.(Photo: Jesse Moya - Headlight Photo)

“I come to keep up the tradition of the culture,” said Deming local Maria Pachecho. “I think we have to have the culture ingrained in our kids. We’re Hispanics and we live in the United States and its important for them to see that the culture should keep on going.”

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1. The Cabalgata Cavalry brigade enters Columbus flying the flags if the U.S., Mexico, and New Mexico as a symbol of friendship in the region. Several riders in the cavalry have traveled 15 days for the event to share in the unity of the two nations.(Photo: Jesse Moya - Headlight Photo)

Many in the crowd of hundreds visit the Cabalgata festival every year to share in a day of peace and fun in Columbus, and have been attending for several years. The Cabalgata is a celebration which falls in close proximity, and remembers, the 1916 raid on Columbus by Mexican Revolutionary Pancho Villa. Villa commanded a regiment of his army to attack the small border town and left a portion of the town in smoldering ruin.

Festivities began with the welcoming of the cavalry in the middle of the town where vendors has set up and readied for the day. Speeches of welcome and thanks were given from American and Mexican participants in the ride and were recited in English and in Spanish.

Combined with the Cabalgata festival is Camp Furlong Day at Pancho Villa State Park which focuses on the history of the raid as well as the importance and relevance of the military operation in Columbus. The state park has been celebrating the history of Camp Furlong for several years through various talks and lectures from historians about the period and the implications of Villa’s raid on the town. The events combined bring in visitors from around the Southwest to celebrate in the memory of the park and the events of Villa’s raid.

“With this celebration, it’s a good show of trying to bring some comraderie to the table,” said El Paso resident John Olivas. “It’s trying to show that we don’t hate each other. Despite the differences, we’re trying.”

Olivas, along with many festival-goers, celebrate the differences in border communities.

The events continued throughout the day with folklorico dancers and music, both expression of border culture and a community which celebrates the diversity in the region, if even only on this day. Many of the town’s English- and Spanish-speaking residents celebrated the events that have brought the community together for many years.

“This is a day for building bridges, not walls,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-NM, in a statement about the event.